SynthesisPediatric research2022
Sensory-based interventions in the NICU: systematic review of effects on preterm brain development.
Synthesis in Pediatric research, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Motor interventions initiated prior hospital discharge to prevent neurodevelopmental impairment in preterm infants.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of daily music on comfort scores in preterm infants: a randomized controlled trial.Pediatric research · 2025Trial
- Neurodevelopmental care across pediatric critical care settings: toward brain-focused critical care.European journal of pediatrics · 2026Review
- The origins of embodiment: behavioral and cardiovascular responses to music in very preterm newborns.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- From touch to triage: translating the NAME model into clinical practice for enhanced neonatal assessment.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Greater Increase in Hippocampal Activity During the Early Postnatal Period After Preterm Birth Is Associated With Better Cognitive and Motor Outcomes at 18 Months.Developmental neurobiology · 2026Article
- Parents' Experiences With an Early Behavioral Intervention, H-HOPE, in the NICU and at Home: A Qualitative Study.Advances in neonatal care : official journal of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses · 2025Article
- Emergence of a synergistic scaffold in the brains of human infants.Communications biology · 2025Article
- Early social communication and language development in moderate-to-late preterm infants: a longitudinal study.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Maternal singing and speech have beneficial effects on preterm infant's general movements at term equivalent age and at 3 months: an RCT.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Effect of an early music intervention on emotional and neurodevelopmental outcomes of preterm infants at 12 and 24 months.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- Article
- Development of neonatal brain functional centrality and alterations associated with preterm birth.Cerebral cortex (New York, N.Y. : 1991) · 2023Article
- Interdisciplinary fetal-neonatal neurology training applies neural exposome perspectives to neurology principles and practice.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
- Review on the application of imaging examination for brain injury in premature infants.Frontiers in neurology · 2023Review
- Intelligent wearable allows out-of-the-lab tracking of developing motor abilities in infants.Communications medicine · 2022Article
- Protocol for a prospective multicenter longitudinal randomized controlled trial (CALIN) of sensory-tonic stimulation to foster parent child interactions and social cognition in very premature infants.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundInfants born preterm are known to be at risk for abnormal brain development and adverse neurobehavioral outcomes. To improve early neurodevelopment, several non-pharmacological interventions have been developed and implemented in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Sensory-based interventions seem to improve short-term neurodevelopmental outcomes in the inherently stressful NICU environment. However, how this type of intervention affects brain development in the preterm population remains unclear.
methodsA systematic review of the literature was conducted for published studies in the past 20 years reporting the effects of early, non-pharmacological, sensory-based interventions on the neonatal brain after preterm birth.
resultsTwelve randomized controlled trials (RCT) reporting short-term effects of auditory, tactile, and multisensory interventions were included after the screening of 1202 articles. Large heterogeneity was identified among studies in relation to both types of intervention and outcomes. Three areas of focus for sensory interventions were identified: auditory-based, tactile-based, and multisensory interventions.
conclusionsDiversity in interventions and outcome measures challenges the possibility to perform an integrative synthesis of results and to translate these for evidence-based clinical practice. This review identifies gaps in the literature and methodological challenges for the implementation of RCTs of sensory interventions in the NICU. IMPACT: This paper represents the first systematic review to investigate the effect of non-pharmacological, sensory-based interventions in the NICU on neonatal brain development. Although reviewed RCTs present evidence on the impact of such interventions on the neonatal brain following preterm birth, it is not yet possible to formulate clear guidelines for clinical practice. This review integrates existing literature on the effect of sensory-based interventions on the brain after preterm birth and identifies methodological challenges for the conduction of high-quality RCTs.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.